Catproof my door

[Marianneconnell]

I have a lovely indoor ragdoll. She's at the vets today being spayed and I've taken the opportunity to have the back door open all day, it's lovely to be able to have the door open with the sun beaming in. It has me wondering if there is a way of having it open but without her being able to escape. Maybe some kind of screen or something. Any ideas? They are French doors.

[Toddlerteaplease]

You can get screens called Flat cats. Can your cat not go into the garden, if it's enclosed?

[Marianneconnell]

Thanks I'll look that up. Garden is enclosed but I'm sure she could escape over the fence if she wanted to. I bring her out on a lead sometimes.

[Fluffycloudland77]

I was going to say flat cats too.

After being cooped up in our house and hating it I think it must be awful for some house cats too.

Can you cat proof your garden? It doesn’t have to be expensive.

[Babdoc]

I couldn’t imagine trapping my poor cat indoors all the time, apart from a few trips on a lead! She has a cat flap and free access to the outside world, not just my garden but as far as she likes. She’s a great hunter, and enjoys mousing in the barley field beyond my back gate. She has never run off, stays relatively close to home and always comes when called for meals etc.
Are you sure you have to keep yours quite so imprisoned, OP? Does she have form for running away?

[Toddlerteaplease]

My Persians go into mine and next doors gardens. But they don't jump so it's easy to contain them. Having said that, they couldn't care less if they are allowed out or not. I suspect ragdolls are similar.

[Toddlerteaplease]

Persians, and Ragdolls are ideal indoor cats. They are totally different from 'normal' moggies. And they really aren't streetwise enough to be let out freely!

[doublecheeseburgermediumfries]

I don't let my cats outside and I wouldn't say they are imprisoned. We popped our Ragdoll onto the patio this morning. She stood there, looked at us, cried twice and went back inside 😂

My ragdoll is not a jumper. Can't even jump onto the kitchen counter or windowledges!

As long as your garden is cat proof around your fence (bottom and top incase she tries to squeeze under never mind over!) then it should be fine. I like the look of these screens though might get one myself!

[Marianneconnell]

I'll definitely have a look at flat cats, looks like just what I'm after. I wish I could catproof the garden, that would be ideal but it's not possible. And she can jump!

[Fluffycloudland77]

There’s a YouTube called catmandoo, he has a video on training cats to walk on a harness so they don’t get distressed. He’s an animal trainer.

You can cat proof with down pipes if you ever get a containable garden.

[TroysMammy]

Babdoc your comments are not helpful. You might think keeping them indoors is trapping them but it's not as bad as what I have recently experienced. Haribo went missing last Monday (I posted on the Litter Tray). We didn't find him until Thursday evening. He had jumped on a shed and fallen through the perished plastic roof and was trapped. The house was unoccupied and was nearby.

Haribo stayed close to home and never went wandering, I only needed to call him or rattle keys and he'd come running. If you think keeping them indoors is imprisoning them that is an opinion you are entitled to have. I don't want to let Haribo out again until he's older as the torment, worry and fleeting thoughts of "what if he wasn't found" are too painful to bear.